History Characters / RWBYRemnant

* FantasticRacism: He is probably [[ExaggeratedTrope the most extreme example in the entire franchise]]. He's not only openly hateful towards Faunus viewing them as nothing more than animals, but wants all of them to be either [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil enslaved]] or [[FinalSolution exterminated]].

[[folder: Fort Lee]]

[[folder: Iona Rockshow]]

[[folder:Lewis '''(Spoilers!)''']]
!!Lewis
!!!'''Debut:''' Confessions Within Cumulonimbus Clouds[[labelnote:*]]Volume 9, Episode 6[[/labelnote]]

Alyx's brother, who fell into the Ever After with her. For some reason, the story based on her adventure there makes no mention of his existence...

* CainAndAbel: He appears to have been the Abel to Alyx's Cain, being the kind and clever brother to his cruel and selfish sister. Alyx is also suspected of essentially killing Lewis, just as Cain had done to Abel, though this later turns out to be false.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Lewis can be briefly seen in Volume 9's opening as a second blue trail following Alyx's, as well as a silhouette standing next to her in a painting.
* IWasNeverHere: Despite ''The Girl Who Fell Through the World'' purportedly being based on Alyx's experiences in the Ever After, Lewis is not even so much as mentioned or alluded to. This makes the revelation that Alyx had a brother at all a total surprise. Jaune theorizes that Alyx sacrificed Lewis to the Tree to return to Remnant, and then deliberately excluded him from the story to make herself look better. The penultimate episode reveals that this was invoked by none other than Lewis himself, so that the story could be 'what he wished had happened' rather than what actually transpired.
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Lewis is named after Lewis Carroll, the author of ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. Lewis is the true author of ''The Girl Who Fell Through the World'', Remnant's equivalent to that very same story.
* NiceGuy: Jaune describes him as the "kind one" between him and Alyx, contrasting the former's personality with the latter's selfish and vindictive actions.
* RedHerring: Volume 9 spends a good time suggesting that the reason for his exclusion from ''The Girl Who Fell Through the World'' was that Alyx had sacrificed him to the Tree to escape the Ever After, and then purposely wrote him out after she returned to Remnant. Then in the penultimate episode, the Cat reveals that it had been Lewis who returned to Remnant, while Alyx had stayed behind to makes amends for her previous mistakes, only to be killed by the Cat for seemingly going back on her promise to bring them to Remnant. He would then go on to write the story, intentionally excluding himself to make it a tribute to his lost sister.
* WalkingSpoiler: His very existence is meant come as a surprise to both Team RWBY and the viewers, revealing that ''The Girl Who Fell Through the World'' was not a wholly accurate retelling of Alyx's journey through the Ever After. The reasons for this discrepancy are only revealed toward the end of Volume 9, and can't be mentioned without bringing up the Cat's true goal and motivations.
* WrittenByTheWinners: Lewis is the only one who makes it back home to Remnant from the Ever After. This gives him the chance to write a story about what he wished had happened and to portray his sister in a more heroic light to honour her decision to remain in the Ever After atoning for the wrongs she had done.

[[folder:Marcus Black]]
!!Marcus Black
!!!'''Debut:''' Beginning of the End[[labelnote:*]]Volume 3 Episode 7[[/labelnote]]

Mercury Black's father and a famous assassin. Cinder sought him out with the intent of hiring him, but Mercury kills him before she can do so. His Semblance allowed him to steal other Semblances.

* {{Abusive Parent|s}}: Marcus was a complete bastard to his son, and Mercury never speaks of his father in a positive light. When Cinder arrives at his house, she finds a seriously injured Mercury, who has just killed his father. Mercury also compares him to Qrow in that he smelled of whiskey, implying he was an alcoholic. He tells Emerald that his father hated him, and being trained by him just meant that every day was a beating. When Mercury discovered his Semblance, Marcus "stole it" with his own. He claimed Semblances were a crutch and that it would make Mercury weak; while he said that Mercury could have it back when he was strong, he never did return it.
* TheAlcoholic: A throwaway line in Volume 3 has Mercury compare Qrow to Marcus in how they both reeked of alcohol.
* FamilyThemeNaming: Roman gods. Marcus refers to Mars, the god of war, while his son Mercury's name refers to the messenger god.
* MiseryBuildsCharacter: Marcus trained Mercury from birth to become an assassin. Mercury states that his father hated him and that the training he received was "a beating" every single day. Marcus claimed that Semblances make people weak and that they should train without them. When Mercury discovered his, Marcus immediately stole it with his own Semblance, stating it would just become a crutch for Mercury. Instead, he forced Mercury to endure harsh training to become as strong and skilled as possible without one.
* PosthumousCharacter: In the show's timeline, he's already dead. He is only shown during a flashback of how Cinder recruits Mercury, and he's just been killed at that point.
* ProfessionalKiller: He was an assassin by trade and had a reputation as having the skill required by Cinder for the mission she had in mind. When she arrives as Marcus's house, it's to find that Marcus has just been killed by his son, whom he trained to be an assassin like him.

[[folder:Dr. Merlot]]
!!Dr. Merlot
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/merlot_smug.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Welcome to the testing grounds, students. Why don't you get acquainted with my test subjects? They could use the exercise."'']]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DaveFennoy

->''"Oh, where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. My name's Dr. Merlot. You don't know me, but I most certainly know who you are. Nevertheless, I'm thrilled you're here. You might be exactly what I need for a very important... experiment."''

The main villain of the video game ''VideoGame/RWBYGrimmEclipse''. A scientist and former student of Ozpin's who is fascinated by the Grimm, seeing them as a perfect life form and desiring to further increase their power.

This video game is treated as canon.

* AdmiringTheAbomination: He believes that while the Grimm are individually flawed and damaged, as a species they are beautiful and full of potential.
* AxCrazy: He gleefully sends his army of Grimm and robots to tear apart Teams [=RWBY=] and [=JNPR=]. During his VillainousBreakdown he reveals that he wants to see them ''EatenAlive''.
* TheBeastmaster: He has direct control over the Grimm, to the point where they even act as a security force to protect his labs.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: The game all but states that the reason Mountain Glenn was overrun and destroyed by Grimm was this man's experiments. At the very least, he made the situation far worse than it could have been.
* BigBad: The creator and master of the mutant Grimm in ''Grimm Eclipse''. He is responsible for the hacking of the control centers, he caused the destruction of Mountain Glenn, and gleefully attempts to kill Teams [=RWBY=] and [=JNPR=] when they stumble onto his island.
* EvilutionaryBiologist: He believes the Grimm are a more perfect lifeform than humanity, and wishes to see just how powerful they can become with his help.
* AGodAmI: As his SanitySlippage furthered, he went from a scientist desiring to make use out of the Grimm for humanity, to a man seeing himself as the god of the Grimm.
* GratuitousLatin: The title of his VillainSong "Lusus Naturae" is, roughly, Latin for "freaks of nature". Merlot however uses it as a term of ''endearment'', seeing the Grimm that he studies as untapped potential that he wants to make use of.
* MadScientist: His ultimate goal is to fulfill the Grimm's potential by using science to improve them where nature failed, a goal that got him labeled as a madman. The various mutant Grimm that appear in the game prove that, whatever else, he isn't wrong about their capacity for improvement.
* MechaMooks: He uses heavily-armed combat robots as his main security. They consist of a mixture of red warrior machines with a double-bladed staff, and white gun-toting droids that can alternate between grenade launchers and rapid-fire energy cannons.
* NeverFoundTheBody: He was presumed dead after the fall of Mountain Glenn. Again at the end of the game, when his laboratory is destroyed but his fate is ultimately unknown.
* NeverMyFault: Dr. Merlot asks if Ozpin would believe him if he said the fall of Mountain Glenn wasn't his fault. However, the only thing Ozpin is willing to believe is that Merlot never takes responsibility for his actions.
* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Dr. Merlot initially wanted to mutate the Grimm to turn them into forces of good. However, after being written off, he suffers SanitySlippage to become a selfish, sociopathic man who only cared about furthering his research.
* OhCrap: Starts to lose his cool when Team RWBY begins hacking into his computers with Ozpin's help due to a security oversight.
-->'''Dr. Merlot:''' Did you just... oh no... how could I be so stupid?!
* PsychopathicManchild: He threw a fit after being written off and, when he encounters Teams [=RWBY=] and [=JNPR=], he's mocking and cocky. However, when they start getting through his defenses, destroying his research, and killing his Mutated Deathstalker, he descends through a VillainousBreakdown into whining about them not being killed.
* APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: He once studied at Beacon under Ozpin, but even then the teachers thought something was very wrong with him. Ozpin in particular saw his studying of Grimm as a futile, if not blasphemous practice, causing Merlot to reject Ozpin and Beacon, and continue his studies on his own.
* SanitySlippage: Dr. Merlot initially desired to turn the Grimm from forces against humanity into forces ''for'' humanity. After being written off as insane and condemned by Ozpin, he slowly began to become as insane as they said he was, focused solely on continuing his research.
* SmugSnake: He initially comes off as very secure in his power and is dismissive of Team RWBY's attempts to foil his plans. This self-assurance gradually breaks down as nothing he throws at RWBY manages to stop them.
* TheSociopath: He no longer cares about his original goal of mutating Grimm for humanity's benefit, and only seeks to further his research. He shows absolutely no remorse for the millions of people he got slaughtered in Mountain Glenn, and is incredibly sadistic while sending his Grimm and robotic guards to kill Teams [=RWBY=] and [=JNPR=].
* TakingYouWithMe: Upon the destruction of his prize specimen, a mutated Deathstalker, he decides to just blow up the whole facility. Fortunately, Team RWBY escapes.
-->'''Dr. Merlot:''' No! Nooooo! My one of a kind specimen! This is inconceivable!\\
'''Professor Ozpin:''' It's all over, Merlot. You've got nothing left.\\
'''Dr. Merlot:''' There is something I can do. Let's end this ''[[SelfDestructMechanism with a bang]]''.
* VillainSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2mjjj05ZtM "Lusus Naturae"]], played in the credits of ''Grimm Eclipse''. The song talks about how much Dr. Merlot admires the Grimm and what potential they might have if he uplifts them through his science. He wants to be seen as more than just a madman and boasts about how his master plan is to create the perfect beast and give it a useful existence.
* VillainousBreakdown: Once Team RWBY starts doing some actual damage to his labs and his experiments, he starts losing his cool and demanding to know why they aren't dead yet.

!!Beings of Remnant

Not everyone who has walked the face of Remnant has been human. Some have been gods, and some have been created by gods.

[[folder:Jinn]]
!!Jinn
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ColleenClinkenbeard[[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]]Creator/ChiakiTakahashi (Japanese)[[/labelnote]]
!!!'''Debut:''' Uncovered[[labelnote:*]]Volume 6 Episode 2[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rwby_jinn_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Tell me. What knowledge do you seek?"'']]

->''"I am Jinn, a being created by the God of Light to aid Humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. I've been graced with the ability to answer three questions every 100 years."''

When the name "Jinn" is spoken by a person who is holding the Relic of Knowledge, a woman forms out of the mist it emits. Jinn was gifted by the God of Light with the ability to answer any question she is asked, but only three times every one hundred years.
----
* AwfulTruth: When Ruby asks Jinn what Ozpin is hiding from them, Jinn tells them a story that leads to a significant revelation that devastates them all. She reveals that Salem was cursed with immortality; Salem attempted to take her own life by mortal and supernatural means. In a battle with a previous incarnation of Ozpin, that incarnation actually managed to obliterate Salem, only for her to reform moments later in the same spot. When a different incarnation of Ozpin finds the Relic of Knowledge, he asks her how can he destroy Salem. She replies "you can't", devastating him. Her vision stops at that point leaving them to cope with the knowledge that Salem cannot be killed as best they can.
* BarbieDollAnatomy: When she forms, she is completely naked. After a moment, decorative chains and jewellery form on her body, but absolutely no clothing. However, she has no defined features of a normal human body. Although there is blue fog swirling around her, akin to a dress, it's very thin and doesn't hide enough to explain the lack of anatomical markings.
* ChainedByFashion: She has chains incorporated into various pieces of the jewelery she wears, as well as long lengths of chain hanging from her bracelets. The circlet she wears is also made out of chain links.
* EarlyBirdCameo: A statue of her is seen at the entrance to the Haven Vault in Volume 5 before she is introduced in person in [[Recap/RWBYV6E2Uncovered "Uncovered"]].
* GenieInABottle: The Relic of Knowledge is an ornate lamp that can change its size and float in mid-air. However, when the name 'Jinn' is spoken by the person holding the lamp, blue mist spills out of it that reforms into the shape of a naked, blue woman.
* GiantWoman: Production notes put her at 12 feet tall, making her the second tallest (humanoid) character in RWBY and the tallest woman.
* LiteralGenie: When Jinn reveals the story behind Ozpin and Salem's ForeverWar, the heroes learn that Oz once asked "How do I destroy Salem?" and that Jinn told him "You can't." During Volume 7, Ren is concerned that they don't have a plan for properly stopping Salem, leading to a discussion of what Jinn told Oz. Nora speculates that perhaps Jinn was suggesting that someone ''other'' than Oz can destroy Salem.
* LoopholeAbuse: When Ruby struggles to activate her silver eyes against the Leviathan, she summons Jinn knowing that Jinn's mere appearance will stop time. After Ruby apologises for using her to buy more time without wanting to ask a question, Jinn admits she's impressed by the tactic before warning Ruby that she will never again permit herself to be used this way and that she will only manifest in the future for the third and final question.
* MasterOfIllusion: To answer questions, she creates illusions to visualize the information that she shares.
* MsFanservice: Jinn is very curvaceous, with a classic hourglass figure, and the chains draped around her waist are balanced against the curve of her hips. She wears jewellery on her body, such as bracelets, anklets, earrings and necklaces, but she is otherwise completely naked. When she first manifests, Qrow doesn't know where to put his eyes and tries to avoid staring at her.
* TheOmniscient: Jinn cannot answer questions about things that haven't happened yet, but she can answer any question put to her about current or past events. She is limited to only being allowed to answer three questions every hundred years.
* OurGeniesAreDifferent: When someone holds the Relic of Knowledge and speaks the name 'Jinn', blue mist spills from the Relic and manifests the form of a blue woman. She has long pointed ears and is completely naked except for golden chains and jewellery. She refers to herself as a 'being' that was created by the God of Light to impart knowledge to humanity. Rather than granting wishes, she can answer a total of three questions every one hundred years.
* TimeStandsStill: When summoned, Jinn freezes time outside of herself and those seeking her knowledge, so that she can deliver her knowledge without interruption. Ruby takes advantage of this by summoning Jinn to give herself extra time to activate her silver eyes. She apologises to Jinn for summoning her without wanting to ask a question and Jinn makes it clear that she won't permit this kind of LoopholeAbuse to ever happen again... even if she admits to being impressed that Ruby came up with the plan.

[[folder:Ambrosius]]
!!Ambrosius
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Valentine Stokes[[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]]Creator/ShunsukeTakeuchi (Japanese)[[/labelnote]]
!!!'''Debut:''' Creation[[labelnote:*]]Volume 8 Episode 12[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/v8_ambrosius_profile_pic.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"All I'll say is it had better be worth it after my last project. A floating city? How pedestrian."'']]

->''"It seems someone has come to engage my creative wiles!"''

A spirit who resides in the Relic of Creation. He can create anything, but only if the summoner can envisage how it would function.

* BarbieDollAnatomy: Ambrosius is naked aside from the chains and jewelry that he wears, but he does not have any visible nipples or genitalia.
* BenevolentGenie: While a LiteralGenie, he's ''very'' upfront about that fact before hand and clarifies ''what'' he'll need to actually make the idea work before creating it.
* ChainedByFashion: Just like Jinn before him, Ambrosius wears golden chains as adornments. They have matching golden cuffs on their wrists with chains attached to nothing, while Ambrosius adorns himself with a chain harness worn over his chest.
* CreativeSterility: It is not Ambrosius' job to figure out what a new creation should do. The human making the request has to be able to explain to him how they would expect the creation to function, otherwise he cannot make it. Ozpin describes this limitation in terms of a craftsman requiring a design blueprint to follow. He advises the heroes to think of real-world examples and use literal blueprints where possible to both explain how their request should function and to minimize the trouble Ambrosius can cause by exploiting the way they phrase their requests. This can also cause just as many problems, however, as Ambrosius will follow the ''[[ExactWords exact]]'' specifications of blueprints and include offhand statements or turns of phrase into the design.
* EccentricArtist: Ambrosius has an over-the-top and flamboyant personality. He regards himself as an artist who is deeply disappointed by how pedestrian his last project was -- raising Atlas into the sky. He's thrilled when he learns what Penny is, and both excited and nervous at how unpredictable and dangerous the challenge of saving Penny's life will be. He is also impressed by the way Team RWBY make their requests of him, complimenting them on having done their homework in advance.
* IncomingHam: Whenever he is summoned, his manifestation consists of him twirling out of smoke while yelling "Ah! It seems someone has come to engage my creative wiles!".
* JewelersEyeLoupe: Ambrosius creates an eye loupe out of thin air with a snap of his fingers to analyze Penny's true nature. It allows him to spot the virus that's destroying her.
* LargeHam: Ambrosius is described as a "character" by Ozpin when discussing how to deal with the Relic of Creation's spirit, and his assessment isn't wrong. Ambrosius is more kooky and jovial in conversation than the composed and calm Jinn, and he's prone to thinking out loud and wildly gesticulating when he creates things.
* LiteralGenie: Ambrosius makes it clear that he will give Team RWBY [[ExactWords exactly what they ask for]], and will not accept any complaints if the result isn't exactly what they ''want''. Ozpin had warned the heroes in advance about this, so Team RWBY is able to approach him with extremely detailed requests, including blueprints, to minimize any potential shortcomings in their designs. However, Weiss describes the evacuation portals as a 'one-way ticket to Vacuo'. Ambrosius therefore makes the Vacuo portal one-way. Anyone who reaches Vacuo cannot return to the central location, which causes problems on both sides of the door.
* LoopholeAbuse: He has to obey the rule that he cannot destroy, although people are free to use his creations in destructive ways. Both Team RWBY and Cinder are able to exploit this, with Team RWBY using very particular wording to achieve the bizarre, dangerous outcome they're after, and Cinder using extremely vague wording to achieve the lethal outcome she desires. Team RWBY ask him to take Penny's existing robot parts to create a new virus-infected robot that will cease to exist the next time he creates something new; this strips Penny down to her soul, leaving him with the problem of keeping Penny's soul alive -- an outcome he warns will be unpredictable and dangerous. Cinder simply asks him to add more flames to the fires of Atlas, thereby trapping Watts in a burning room from which he cannot escape.
* MilkingTheGiantCow: Ambrosius gesticulates wildly while he speaks and thinks, as if he were pulling threads for a tapestry. He also does this while actually using his abilities.
* MrFanservice: Ambrosius is a fully-nude giant with a BarbieDollAnatomy and the muscular [[SculptedPhysique body of a Greek god]].
* NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction: Mundane requests, such as making Atlas float, bore and irritate him. Team RWBY's first request is so challenging, however, that he's thrilled by the sheer headache it causes him. He has to create a copy of Penny using her existing robot parts, which will fall foul of his "one creation only" rule. The real Penny is therefore left as a soul without a complete body. As he is not allowed to destroy anything, Penny must continue to exist and her new physical form is more about what her soul can manifest than his own work, allowing it to survive the "only one creation" rule. He does warn the team that this request is extremely dangerous, as even Ambrosius has no idea what will actually result from the process.
* NoOntologicalInertia: One big limitation on his power seems to be that only one creation of his can exist at any given time: the moment he makes something new, the last thing he created dissolves and disappears. Team RWBY has to very carefully word their instructions on Penny to exploit a loophole to prevent her new body from disappearing like this.
* OurGeniesAreDifferent: Ambrosius manifests from a magical object when summoned, appearing in a cloud of blue mist and bond to serve the person that summoned him. While Jinn answers questions, Ambrosius plays a bit closer to the traditional Genie through creating whatever it is that his Summoner requests from him. And just like the Genies of legend, his creations can be a double-edged sword if the request is not well-thought out, extremely detailed, and worded with ''extreme'' care. Ambrosius warns Ruby that he will create [[ExactWords exactly]] what is asked of him, with no room for complaints if they aren't pleased with the final outcome.
* ThePowerOfCreation: As the spirit of the Staff of Creation, Ambrosius has the ability to create anything out of thin air. But this comes with a number of caveats: [[NoOntologicalInertia Anything he makes will vanish as soon as something else is made]], [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower he must have exact blueprints and specifications]] to let him visualize what needs to be made and how the user wants them to be made, and he can't bring anyone BackFromTheDead.
* PsychoticSmirk: He briefly flashes this while fulfilling Team RWBY's request to create bridges in space and time to evacuate all of Atlas and Mantle's citizens to Vacuo before the former comes crashing down, implying that there are some things they neglected to mention that allow him to fill the blanks.

[[folder:Light and Dark]]
!The Gods of Light and Darkness
!!!'''Debut:''' The Lost Fable[[labelnote:*]]Volume 6 Episode 3[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rwby_gods.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"So long as this world turns, you shall walk its face."'']]

Long ago, two gods used to live with humanity on Remnant. They dwelt in separate domains that could be visited by humanity, and were known as the Gods of Light and Darkness.

They eventually left Remnant and exist solely in the memories of humanity as a fairy tale known as "The Two Brothers". Only a few humans on Remnant know the reality that lies behind the myth.

%% Note: This is not for troping the fairy tale ''The Two Brothers'', that falls under the Myths of Remnant section at the top of this page. Only trope the reality of these Gods as revealed from Volume 6.

!!In General
* BarbieDollAnatomy: When they take humanoid form, the Brother Gods are naked, their bodies only forming the outline of a humanoid shape. The God of Light's body is formed from shades of gold, as if he's made of light while the God of Darkness's body is formed from shades of purple, as if he's made from darkness. There are very few anatomical structures on their bodies, including a lack of [[TheBlank facial definition]] that leaves them with no eyes, nose or mouth. The only facial structures they do have are eyebrow ridges.
* CruelMercy: Their solution to Salem's attempt to manipulate them into resurrecting her dead lover is to give her CompleteImmortality, a punishment designed to [[BarredFromTheAfterlife prevent her]] from being able to reunite in death with her lost love. When she raises an army against the gods in revenge, the God of Darkness wipes out the entirety of humanity, asking Salem if she thought there was no further punishment the gods could bestow upon her. The two gods then abandon Remnant completely, [[AndIMustScream leaving Salem to live alone on an empty world, unable to die]].
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: The Brother Gods have caused the show's plot by first punishing Salem with immortality to learn the importance of the balance between life and death and then via Light resurrecting Ozma to guide humanity to whatever interpretation of a redemptive harmonious existence the gods personally believe in and approve of. This has pitted Ozma and Salem against each in a ForeverWar fuelled by pain and flawed concepts of how humans should behave that mimics the fraught relationship between the Brothers and the lesson they've never learned. [[spoiler:The Blacksmith explains in the Volume 9 finale that balance must be reached naturally; it cannot be forced. The Brothers have failed to learn this lesson and keep trying to enforce their flawed understanding of balance onto Remnant, trapping Ozma and Salem into an artificial conflict that drives the show's main plot.]]
* FatalFlaw: '''Sloth'''. [[spoiler:Originally, the brothers were hard-working minor gods of creation/destruction, but after discovering they could create creatures that would do most of their work for them, they chose to build entire worlds for the purpose of creating recursive agents of creation and destruction. Eventually, they lost sight of the reason they were working in the first place.]]
* FinalSolution: When humanity rises up against the Brother Gods at the Domain of Light, they attempt to use magic to win. The God of Darkness is so insulted that they'd attack him with the very gift he granted them that he destroys every human alive except for the woman who led the uprising. Although the God of Light does not contribute to the destruction, he allows it to happen and then justifies his brother's actions.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Dark's horns are goat-like and Light's horns are antlers. Volume 9 reveals that this is neither coincidence nor personal choice. [[spoiler:They were created by the Ever After's Tree in the form of a goat (Dark) and a deer (Light).]]
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:They used to live in the Ever After where their roles were to maintain the world's balance. However, they became increasingly confrontational with each other's acts of creation and destruction, which led to them creating the Curious Cat and the Jabberwalker. In the end, they were causing so much harm that the Tree gave them the ability to leave the Ever After and explore their abilities with doing further harm. However, both the Cat and Jabberwalker were created with fatal flaws that would become increasingly problematic for everyone in Ever After even long after the two Brothers had gone.]]
* HaveYouSeenMyGod: The God of Light is frustrated that his 'beautiful experiment' has been failing for some time and the God of Darkness is angry that humanity would dare rise up and attack them with the very gift of magic that he gave them. The uprising is the final straw. The God of Light tells its leader that he and his brother need to reflect on their failure, and she must do the same. While he departs by fading away into nothing, the God of Darkness is angry with the demands made of humanity's creators and departs more violently. He leaves the planet as a burst of raw energy that shoots into space and smashes through the moon. The God of Light later recalls Ozma from the afterlife with a mission to unite humanity and then use the four Relics together to summon the gods back to Remnant. This will trigger a Judgement Day where the gods will decide if humanity is worthy of being reunited with the gods or whether they are irredeemable, in which case the entire planet will wiped out of existence. [[spoiler:Volume 9 later reveals that they themselves were created by the Ever After to assist it and created the Curious Cat and the Jabberwalker, only to leave it due to their constant fights with each other causing the balance to be disrupted and leading them to create Remnant and other worlds as a result.]]
* HornedHumanoid: When the Brother Gods take humanoid form, they both possess horns on their heads. The God of Darkness possesses the large, curled horns of a ram or goat while the God of Light possesses a large spread of antlers like a stag.
* HumanityOnTrial: The God of Light sent Ozma to unite humanity and then summon the gods back with the four Relics. If they decide humanity cannot be redeemed, they will destroy the planet.
* JerkassGods: The Brothers created the world of Remnant as an experiment but quarreled over how the world would manifest by using their own creations as weapons against the other: the God of Light would create things that he liked, such as plants and animals, but his brother would destroy everything he disliked and eventually created the Creatures of Grimm to help him do that. While they settle their feud by creating humanity together, they lose pride in their experiment over time. They punish Salem for demanding the resurrection of her dead lover, but only after they squabble about it via resurrecting and killing him multiple times in front of her. When she seeks revenge by inciting a rebellion against them, they destroy humanity; declaring it a failed experiment, they deliberately [[CruelMercy leave her alone on an empty world]], unable to die. When the God of Light finally reincarnates her dead lover, it's only to prepare the second evolution of humanity for Judgement Day. On that day, they will either restore humanity to its full potential or declare humanity to be irredeemable and destroy all life, including the planet.
** Backstory in Volume 9 reveals they've been jerkasses on other worlds; [[spoiler:Originally created by the Ever After's Tree to manage the Ever After, they created both the Jabberwalker and Curious Cat as experiments. However, the Jabberwalker and its ability to permanently kill Afterans never worked properly while the Curious Cat was given the ability to fix every broken heart except its own, resulting in both flawed creations becoming problems for the realm over time. Rather than improve their creations or destroy them when they caused grievous harm, the brothers argued about the fallout until they grew tired of thinking about their mistakes and made more experiments to ignore their old ones. As their experimentation caused them to outgrow the Ever After, the Tree created a doorway for them to explore new realms to create and destroy to their hearts' content without bringing further harm to the Afteran balance.]]
* LightDarknessJuxtaposition: Light is the older brother and responsible for the creation of life, which Dark despised and set about destroying, even creating the Creatures of Grimm to achieve this. While they formed a truce by creating humanity together, Light receives the worship and adoration of humanity while humanity fears and avoids Darkness. The two domains in which they dwell reflect their differences. Light lives atop a mountain, surrounded by golden plants, and is a welcoming place to visit. Dark's domain is in a realm of endless darkness where fearsome Grimm roam and skeletons of humans who died lie scattered. The God of Darkness's jealousy over the God of Light's relationship with humanity leaves him vulnerable to Salem's manipulations, setting the world of Remnant on course for a tragic catastrophe.
* TheMaker: They created Remnant and all its inhabitants. According to legend, the God of Light created most forms of life on the planet, while the God of Darkness created the Grimm and other destructive forces, before the Brothers combined their powers to create humanity. They also created the Ever After's inhabitants prior to creating Remnant.
* TheOmnipotent: They are the most powerful beings in the setting, shown to be able to create and end life at will, give and take magic from mortals, and travel freely between the worlds of life and death. However, Salem is able to trick them because they are not [[TheOmniscient all-knowing]].
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Brother Gods have the ability to transform into dragons, which they use when anticipating conflict. The [[DragonsAreDemonic God of Darkness]] takes on a lizard-like form with four strong limbs and bat-like wings. His face has [[{{Dracolich}} the appearance]] of a sheep's skull, his ram's horns grow in size, and he has a preference for standing on the ground rather than flying in the air. The [[DragonsAreDivine God of Light]] transforms into a serpentine dragon with tiny limbs and no wings. His face sports long barbels like a catfish and he retains an expansive head of antlers. Despite the lack of wings, he tends to float in the air instead of settling on the ground.
* OurGodsAreDifferent: The Brother Gods live on Remnant with the humans they created together. The God of Darkness dwells in the Domain of Darkness and represents destructive forces. He created the Creatures of Grimm which are spawned from pools of annihilation deep within his domain. The God of Light dwells in the Domain of Light and is responsible for the creation of life. His domain contains a single lake that is known as the Pool of Creation and Life. Their last act on Remnant is to destroy humanity for rising up against them, an act carried out by the God of Darkness and justified by the God of Light. The God of Darkness smashes the moon when he leaves the planet but the God of Light resurrects Ozma to a newly created form of humanity with a mission to unite humanity, whereupon he must summon the gods for Judgement Day. On that day, the gods will decide if humanity is worthy or irredeemable. If the former, the gods will return to live among them; if the latter, the gods will destroy the entire planet.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: The two brothers created the world and everything on it. When Salem turns humanity against the gods, the God of Darkness destroys the whole of humanity with a single attack. As they depart the planet, the God of Darkness casually smashes through the moon, leaving it shattered. The God of Light's terms to Ozma is that humanity gets one chance at redemption. If it fails, the two gods will destroy the planet.
* PhysicalGod: They are extremely powerful beings with physical forms and they have the power to destroy and create living beings. When they created Remnant and humanity, they lived among them as physically accessible beings to anyone who wished to visit. Although the scale of their powers dwarf even the original form of magic-wielding humanity, they experience the same emotions as humans and suffer the same sort of character flaws. It's Salem realizing that they're as fallible as humans that lead her to turn humanity against them, but it's their vast power that enabled them to destroy and abandon humanity in retaliation. [[spoiler:Volume 9 reveals that they were created by the Ever After as minor gods, but they grew more powerful over time; they eventually outgrew their original purpose and were released to explore other realms away from their native home.]]
* SiblingYinYang: The God of Darkness represents destruction and annihilation, and his domain contains the Pools of Grimm from which come forth the Creatures of Grimm. He is an impulsive, impetuous god, easily prone to acting in anger or jealousy. His brother, the God of Light, represents creation and life, and his domain contains the single Pool of Life. He is more thoughtful and patient than his younger brother.
* ThickerThanWater: When the God of Light explains to his brother how Salem tricked him into resurrecting Ozma, the God of Darkness apologizes to his brother for lashing out and attacking his character; and when the human armies rallied by Salem invade the sanctuary of the God of Light, the God of Darkness ''immediately'' rushes to his brother's side.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: [[spoiler:They were originally minor gods that were adorably precocious as they learned how to use their abilities. However, their experiments led to them creating beings to do all the work for them, slowly corrupting them with laziness and greed. It was the Ever After's decision to allow them to explore new realms to prevent them further harming the Ever After that produced the conditions that allowed them to create Remnant, complete with all the mistakes that followed.]]

!!The God of Light
!!!'''Voiced by''': Chase [=McCaskill=][[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]]Creator/FuminoriKomatsu (Japanese)[[/labelnote]]
->''"This planet was a beautiful experiment, but it is merely a remnant of what it once was. We will learn from this failure. I hope that you will learn from yours."''

A god that once dwelt within the Domain of Light, an isolated mountain vale where a beautiful golden tree overlooked a serene lake. The path towards his domain was littered with votive offerings from the many humans who came seeking his wisdom and blessing.

He was the older brother of the God of Darkness.
-----
* TheChooserOfTheOne: To address the absence of the gods from Remnant, the God of Light chooses a single human to act as a guide that will help humanity achieve its potential. That guide also has been given the knowledge required to summon the gods back to Remnant. Ozma is brought back from death to carry out this mission, which requires him to be [[ResurrectiveImmortality constantly reborn]] into the body of a living man so that his immortality will never leave him alone. If Ozma manages to unite humanity in harmony, he is to bring the four Relics together and summon the gods back to Remnant. If the gods deem humanity worthy, they will restore humanity to its full potential and live among them once more. However, if they are summoned to Remnant while humanity is in a disunited and fractured state, they will deem humanity irredeemable and destroy the entire world.
* EverybodyLovesZeus: When the gods lived among humans, people always prayed to the God of Light and approached him for requests of divine assistance. He is portrayed positively in myths as sympathetic and protective of humanity, and their advocate to curb the God of Darkness's omnicidal tendencies. In reality, he viewed Remnant as an experiment, tolerated and defended his brother's destruction of the first humans and, after [[CompleteImmortality cursing Salem]] to [[BarredFromTheAfterlife never reunite]] with her beloved, later [[ResurrectiveImmortality reincarnates him]] anyway to give the reborn humanity one chance at redemption or they'll destroy the planet... by forcing him to endlessly FusionDance with living men, potentially inflicting LossOfIdentity on every host he {{Body Surf}}s into.
* GodOfLight: As a creation deity, Light created all life by himself; the exception is humanity, which he created with his brother. He resides in the Domain of Light, a very sunny location set in the mountains, surrounded by golden grass and containing a circle of gold-leaved trees. He has the ability to [[LightEmUp produce light]] from his body, which can destroy the Grimm; certain humans have inherited his ability to do this, but only if they possess the rare trait of [[MagicalEye silver eyes]].
* GoldColoredSuperiority: The God of Light takes forms that appear to be made of golden light. He is the elder brother, the one gifted with the power of creation and the one who wins the long battle with his younger brother, the God of Darkness. He receives much worship and votive offerings from humanity, who often seek his blessing and support. The God of Darkness, by contrast, has a terrifying reputation among humanity, none of whom seek him out for blessings or to leave him offerings. As a result, he is so happy when a mortal finally seeks his help that he breaks the rules governing life and death without a second thought. When his brother intervenes to correct the mistake, the God of Darkness bitterly accuses his brother of having stacked the rules against him.
* LightIsNotGood: The God of Light is a being of creation, not goodness, who created all plants and animals; he and the God of Darkness created humanity together, but he is the god humanity prefers to seek blessings and help from as he's perceived to be more empathic and cordial. However, when the God of Darkness destroys humanity for rebelling against the gods, the God of Light permits it to occur without resistence then justifies it by claiming that humanity is a failed 'experiment'. He leaves the rebellion's immortal leader alone on an empty world as punishment for defying the gods; while he later offers Ozma one chance to redeem humanity, he makes it clear that failure will result in him declaring humanity irredeemable and destroying the planet itself.
* MagicalEye: When the two brothers confront each other over the resurrection of Ozma, the God of Darkness transforms into his dragon form and his Grimm move forward to attack the God of Light. A burst of white light erupts from the God of Light, destroying all the Grimm within range but leaving all humans and gods within range unharmed. When the light recedes, he is revealed to have transformed into his own dragon form and his eyes are glowing. Maria believes the power of the Silver Eyes is a gift from the God of Light because Jinn's vision of the confrontation made it clear to her that the light was coming from the God of Light's silver eyes, which is exactly how the power of the Silver-Eyed Warriors works.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: When he is asked by a distraught young woman to restore her lost love back to life, he initially tries to reason with her. When she fails to accept his position, he ends the discussion with a calm, but stern, "Let. Him. Rest." Salem's persistence in bringing Ozma back to life results in cursed immortality for both of them, locking them into a never-ending battle for the fate of humanity that allows neither one of them to be able to rest in peace.
* TranquilFury: Even when the God of Light argues with his brother over the importance of maintaining the rules of life and death, his voice remains calm and even-toned. When he lectures Salem on his decision to punish her selfishness and arrogance by inflicting immortality on her so that she is forever separated from her deceased love, he remains soft-spoken. When Salem leads an army of humans to attack the gods, while the God of Darkness lashes out in anger to destroy all humanity, the God of Light explains why Salem's mistakes have resulted in humanity's destruction in an almost soothing tone.

!!The God of Darkness
!!!'''Voiced by''': Bruce [=DuBose=][[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]]Creator/YasuyukiKase (Japanese)[[/labelnote]]
->''"I have done what I please, brother. You may bask in the powers of creation, but you do not own them."''

A god that once dwelt within the Domain of Darkness, an isolated realm that was shadowed by constant night. Few humans dared to venture to his realm as they all knew what horrors were birthed in his inky black pools of annihilation.

He was the younger brother of the God of Light.

* BodyHorror: When a mortal visits the Domain of Darkness, the God manifests from his pools in a laborious fashion. He thrashes around, body loudly cricking and contorting into the correct alignments for the human form. When he starts moving across the surface of the pool, his body is still contorted in ways that are impossible for the human form until he finally sorts himself out and stands straight and tall. His entire manifestation is almost identical to the way the Nuckelavee moves during the Volume 4 battle with Team RNJR.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Despite being more impetuous and self-centred than his brother, the God of Darkness is a being of destruction, not evil. He creates destructive forces, such as fire, famine or the Creatures of Grimm, but he also helped the God of Light to create humanity and gifted them with the ability wield magic. It therefore upsets him that his terrible reputation means humans don't ever seek him out for help or blessings. When Salem asks him to resurrect Ozma, he instantly grants her request without any strings attached because he's happy to be able to ''create'' for once. He will apologise for making mistakes, and unites with his brother to punish Salem and to confront the first humans' rebellion.
* DestroyerDeity: The God of Darkness reigns over a domain that is filled with many pools of annihilation. These pools spawn the Grimm, creatures that share the God of Darkness's innate desire to destroy. He also wipes out humanity after Salem leads them in rebellion, taking back the magic he had gifted humanity and using it to annihilate every living person. [[spoiler:Their original role in the Ever After was clearing the realm of the stuff that was there before they were created, so that there would be room for the other creations of the Tree.]]
* ExtremeOmniGoat: If he wants to, he is capable of consuming everything to destroy it, and is shown doing so in the form of a goat that eats everything it comes across, no matter what it is. [[spoiler:He was originally created to destroy everything that needed to be removed so that the Ever After could be made habitable. His original form was that of a goat, and his method of destroying what needed to be removed was to eat it.]]
* EveryoneHatesHades: The God of Darkness was feared by his creations, and myth continues to portray him in a negative manner compared to his more beloved brother. The tale of "The Two Brothers" presents him as malicious, omnicidal and inferior to the God of Light, despising life and only tempered when his brother defeated him. In reality, Darkness was not a malicious being and granted the gift of Magic to humanity. As they feared him, he never received visitors to his realm and was so delighted when one ''finally'' approached him that he granted Salem's request without a second thought. When humanity turned against the Gods, he was deeply hurt by them using his blessing against him.
* GodOfDarkness: The God of Darkness is the antithesis of his brother, the God of Light. He once resided in the Land of Darkness, a barren wasteland filled with Grimm pools.
* IJustWantToBeLoved: The God of Darkness has a terrible reputation among humanity. His domain is lifeless and eternally night, spawning only the Creatures of Grimm and death for anyone who travels there. As a result, he receives no worshipers; no one seeks his blessing, asks for his help or leaves him votive offerings -- they always seek out his brother instead. As a result, when a mortal woman comes to him seeking his help to save her lost love, he's thrilled to have the opportunity to prove he's just as worthy of human faith as his brother. He therefore does exactly what the woman asks of him with no strings attached. When his brother shows up to chastise him and undo the resurrection, the God of Darkness bitterly claims that the rules they live by are stacked in the God of Light's favour, leaving him jealous and angry with the adoration and reverence and power that his brother receives compared to him.
* ItsPersonal: When Salem's army begins attacking the gods with magic, Darkness captures all the magic in one clawed hand. He comments "My own magic used against me?" in an offended tone. This act is what triggers his decision to kill every human on the planet, leaving the perpetrator -- Salem -- the sole survivor. He then makes it clear that it's to ensure she doesn't think that immortality is the worst punishment the gods could have bestowed upon her; when she tries to order them to not depart, Darkness chastises her for making demands of her creators then smashes the moon as he departs to emphasise his point.
* PurpleIsPowerful: The God of Darkness seems to be made of darkness whenever he forms. His form is dark purple edged by much brighter purple, and whenever he uses his powers, it has the same motif. His domain is a land of night, surrounded by strange purple crystals. He created the destructive forces of the world, such as famine, fire and the Creatures of Grimm. However, he was also the god who gifted humanity with the ability to use magic. When humanity tries to use their magical power to destroy the brothers, the God of Darkness captures his gift back and crushes it. That act sends out a wave of purple power across the entire world, reducing all of humanity to ashes.
* ReverseArmFold: When the two gods unite to pronounce their judgement upon Salem, the God of Darkness clasps his hands behind his body; this is unlike the God of Light, who normally clasps his hands in front of his body when addressing mortals. The reversed stance emphasises their contrary natures, even though it also gives the God of Darkness the same air of timeless, patient wisdom that his brother exudes.

* NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction: Mundane requests, such as making Atlas float, bore and irritate him. Team RWBY's first request is so challenging, however, that he's thrilled by the sheer headache it causes him. He has to create a copy of Penny using her existing robot parts, which will fall foul of his "one creation only" rule. The real Penny is therefore left as a soul without a complete body. As he is not allowed to destroy anything, Penny must continue to exist and her new physical form is more about what her soul can manifest than his own work, allowing it to survive the "only one creation" rule. He does warn the team that this request is extremely dangerous, as even Ambrosius has no idea what will actually result from process.

* CreativeSterility: It is not Ambrosius' job to figure out what a new creation should do. The human making the request has to be able to explain to him how they would expect the creation to function otherwise he cannot make it. Ozpin describes this limitation in terms of a craftsman requiring a design blueprint to follow. He advises the heroes to think of real-world examples and use literal blueprints where possible to both explain how their request should function and to minimize the trouble Ambrosius can cause by exploiting the way they phrase their requests. This can also cause just as many problems, however, as Ambrosius will follow the ''[[ExactWords exact]]'' specifications of blueprints and include offhand statements or turns of phrase into the design.

* FourElementEnsemble: The four sisters obtained the powers of the elements, with legend suggesting that Spring could make [[GreenThumb plants grow]], Summer could produce [[PlayingWithFire fire]], Fall could produce [[BlowYouAway wind]], and Winter could create [[AnIcePerson ice]], in keeping with their seasonal themes.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Spring walks around in bare feet, unlike all her other sisters who wear shoes. It completes the nature theme that is associated with her, as she also wears a crown of leaves and carries seeds, fruits, and flowers in a basket.

Alyx's brother, who had fallen into the Ever After with her. For some reason, he had never been mentioned in the story based on his sister's journey…

* BladeOnAStick: When the Warrior first appears to save the hero from the Boarbatusk, she is using a billhook that's attached to the end of a staff. She can fight with it in a variety of ways, from spinning the staff to using it to pole vault over the Boarbatusk and then use its reach to slice the creature while in mid-air. With every new appearance, the handle gets broken and worn down until she's left with only the blade itself.

* DemiurgeArchetype: The Brother Gods are the creators of humanity and the World of Remnant, but they aren't the world's ''true'' gods, as [[spoiler:the two are creations of the Ever After, which has been around longer than the mortal world that's known in present day]].

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:they used to live in the Ever After where their roles were to maintain the world's balance. However, they became increasingly confrontational with each other's acts of creation and destruction, which led to them creating the Curious Cat and the Jabberwalker. In the end, they were causing so much harm that the Tree gave them the ability to leave the Ever After and explore their abilities with doing further harm. However, both the Cat and Jabberwalker were created with fatal flaws that would become increasingly problematic for everyone in Ever After even long after the two Brothers had gone.]]

'''[[Characters/RWBYTheHeroes The Heroes]]:''' [[Characters/RWBYRubyRose Ruby Rose]] | [[Characters/RWBYWeissSchnee Weiss Schnee]] | [[Characters/RWBYBlakeBelladonna Blake Belladonna]] | [[Characters/RWBYYangXiaoLong Yang Xiao Long]] | [[Characters/RWBYTeamJNPR Team JNPR]] ([[Characters/RWBYJauneArc Jaune Arc]]) | [[Characters/RWBYOzpinAndOscar Ozpin and Oscar]]\\
'''Kingdoms:''' [[Characters/RWBYEasternSanus Sanus (Eastern)]] | [[Characters/RWBYWesternSanus Sanus (Western)]] | [[Characters/RWBYAnima Anima]] | [[Characters/RWBYSolitas Solitas]] ([[Characters/RWBYJamesIronwood James Ironwood]])\\
'''Antagonists:''' [[Characters/RWBYSalemsFaction Salem's Faction]] ([[Characters/RWBYSalem Salem]] | [[Characters/RWBYCinderFall Cinder Fall]]) | [[Characters/RWBYWhiteFang White Fang]] ([[Characters/RWBYAdamTaurus Adam Taurus]]) | [[Characters/RWBYCreaturesOfGrimm Creatures of Grimm]]\\
'''World Building:''' '''World of Remnant''' | [[Characters/RWBYTheEverAfter The Ever After]]-]]]]]

[[WMG:[[center:[-'''Other Media:''' Characters/RWBYIceQueendom - Characters/RWBYTheOfficialManga - Characters/RWBYJusticeLeague - Characters/JusticeLeagueXRWBYSuperHeroesAndHuntsmen - Characters/RWBYChibi -]]]]]

[[center:[-[[Characters/{{RWBY}} Main Page]] | [[Characters/RWBYTheHeroes The Heroes]] ([[Characters/RWBYRubyRose Ruby Rose]] | [[Characters/RWBYWeissSchnee Weiss Schnee]] | [[Characters/RWBYBlakeBelladonna Blake Belladonna]] | [[Characters/RWBYYangXiaoLong Yang Xiao Long]] | [[Characters/RWBYTeamJNPR Team JNPR]] ([[Characters/RWBYJauneArc Jaune Arc]]) | [[Characters/RWBYOzpinAndOscar Ozpin and Oscar]]) | [[Characters/RWBYEasternSanus Sanus (Eastern)]] | [[Characters/RWBYWesternSanus Sanus (Western)]] | [[Characters/RWBYAnima Anima]] | [[Characters/RWBYSolitas Solitas]] ([[Characters/RWBYJamesIronwood James Ironwood]]) | [[Characters/RWBYSalemsFaction Salem's Faction]] ([[Characters/RWBYSalem Salem]] | [[Characters/RWBYCinderFall Cinder Fall]]) | [[Characters/RWBYWhiteFang White Fang]] ([[Characters/RWBYAdamTaurus Adam Taurus]]) | [[Characters/RWBYCreaturesOfGrimm Creatures of Grimm]] | '''World of Remnant''' | [[Characters/RWBYTheEverAfter The Ever After]]-]]]

* TheAtoner: The Cat eventually reveals that they do know what happened to Alyx, mentioning that Alyx became determined to correct her wrongdoings. This is what the fairy story has claimed from the beginning. [[spoiler:What the story doesn't reveal is that she was explicitly concerned about the wrongs she had done to the Afterans; after talking to the Tree, she decides to remain behind in the Ever After to atone for her misdeeds, such as poisoning Jaune. Angered with her refusal to take them to Remnant, the Cat killed her.]]

* WrittenByTheWinners: Lewis is the only one who makes it back home to Remnant from the Ever After. This gives him to write a story about what he wished had happened and to portray his sister in a more heroic light to honour her decision to remain in the Ever After atoning for the wrongs she had done.

* WrittenByTheWinnters: Lewis is the only one who makes it back home to Remnant from the Ever After. This gives him to write a story about what he wished had happened and to portray his sister in a more heroic light to honour her decision to remain in the Ever After atoning for the wrongs she had done.

* TheAtoner: The Cat eventually reveals that they do know what happened to Alyx and Lewis; it mentions Alyx became determined to correct her wrongdoings. This is what the fairy story has claimed from the beginning. [[spoiler:What the story doesn't reveal is that she was explicitly concerned about the wrongs she had done to the Afterans; after talking to the Tree, she decides to remain behind in the Ever After to atone for her misdeeds, such as poisoning Jaune. Angered with her refusal to take them to Remnant, the Cat killed her.]]

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: In-universe example. Alyx's depiction in ''The Girl who Fell Through the World'', is a LighterAndSofter version of how she was during her adventures with the Cat, the Rusted Knight, and [[spoiler:her brother Lewis, who wrote the fairy tale as the story he ''wished'' had happened, as the Blacksmith notes to Team RWBY and Jaune in a conversation before they return to Remnant.]]
* ImproperlyParanoid: Late in her journey through the Ever After, she became convinced someone in their party was plotting against her, but the actions she took only made things worse. [[spoiler:She assumed that Jaune was manipulating her and trying to trap her in the Ever After, and so she poisoned him to stop him. However, it was actually the Curious Cat that only sought to use her to get to Remnant, and when her talk with the Tree convinced her to go back and fix her mistakes, the Cat killed her for reneging on their bargain.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: For all the selfish things she did through her journey, she eventually realized what she'd done and what she had to do. [[spoiler:Just before entering the door that would take her back to Remnant, Alyx had a crisis of conscious and decided to stay in the Ever After to undo all the bad things she did, including hurting Jaune. Lewis returned home, but she did not.]]

* SelfServingMemory: Team RWBY conclude that Alyx wrote the story about her own experiences in the Ever After, portraying herself as a petulant child who learned how to be a better person. However, Jaune reveals how cruel and paranoid she really was, and believes she omitted her brother from the story to hide the fact she sacrificed him to the tree and make herself look better than she really was. [[spoiler:This is subverted as the story was written by Lewis; he omitted himself from the tale to honour of her decision to sacrifice her chance to return to Remnant so that she could remain behind and atone for all the wrongs she had done to the Afterans.]]

* UnreliableExpositor: Team RWBY is alarmed to discover that there are things about the real Ever After that were never mentioned in the book. The story excludes Ascension, the existence and disappearance of Lewis and the fact that Alyx was a far more terrible person than the story admits. [[spoiler:This is because it was Lewis who left the Ever After and wrote the book to honour his sister's [[IChooseToStay choice to remain behind]] and fix the wrongs she had done to the Afterans.]]
* WrittenByTheWinners: Jaune has a very dim view of the book and the reason why it was written. [[spoiler:He believes Alyx wrote the book to omit any reference to her brother because she sacrificed him to the tree just to return home. Once home, she then lied about what happened to make herself look better and hide what she did to her brother. In reality, ''Lewis'' was the one who made it home and wrote the story, as Alyx had a crisis of conscience from speaking with The Tree. He wrote the story but excluded himself as a memento to his sister.]]

The tale of a young girl called Alyx, who leaves home and ends up adventuring through a magical world called the Ever After.

* DramaticalltMissingThePoint: A case that ''caused the entire plot, no less''! [[spoiler:When the Brother Gods were exiled from the Ever After, they tried to create balanced worlds according to their beliefs. As the Blacksmith explains in the Volume 9 finale, balance is something that must be reached naturally, not forced into existence. The entire story of ''RWBY'' hinges on them arbitrarily deciding how life and death factor into said "balance", and punishing Salem for challenging a concept that does not exist the way they want it to]].

* AdaptedOut: An In-universe example. Despite ''The Girl Who Fell Through the World'' purportedly being based on Alyx's experiences in the Ever After, Lewis is not even so much as mentioned or alluded to. This makes the revelation that Alyx had a brother at all a total surprise. Jaune theorizes that Alyx sacrificed Lewis to the Tree to return to Remnant, and then deliberately excluded him from the story to make herself look better. The penultimate episode reveals that this was invoked by none other than Lewis himself, so that the story could be 'what he wished had happened' than what actually transpired.

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Lewis is named after Lewis Carroll, the author of ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. Crosses over into MeaningfulName when it is revealed that Lewis is the true author of ''The Girl Who Fell Through the World'', Remnant's equivalent to that very same story.

[[folder:Marcus Black]]
!!Marcus Black
!!!'''Debut:''' Beginning of the End[[labelnote:*]]Volume 3 Episode 7[[/labelnote]]

Mercury Black's father and a famous assassin. Cinder sought him out with the intent of hiring him, but Mercury kills him before she can do so. His Semblance allowed him to steal other Semblances.

* {{Abusive Parent|s}}: Marcus was a complete bastard to his son, and Mercury never speaks of his father in a positive light. When Cinder arrives at his house, she finds a seriously injured Mercury, who has just killed his father. Mercury also compares him to Qrow in that he smelled of whiskey, implying he was an alcoholic. He tells Emerald that his father hated him, and being trained by him just meant that every day was a beating. When Mercury discovered his Semblance, Marcus "stole it" with his own. He claimed Semblances were a crutch and that it would make Mercury weak; while he said that Mercury could have it back when he was strong, he never did return it.
* TheAlcoholic: A throwaway line in Volume 3 has Mercury compare Qrow to Marcus in how they both reeked of alcohol.
* FamilyThemeNaming: Roman gods. Marcus refers to Mars, the god of war, while his son Mercury's name refers to the messenger god.
* MiseryBuildsCharacter: Marcus trained Mercury from birth to become an assassin. Mercury states that his father hated him and that the training he received was "a beating" every single day. Marcus claimed that Semblances make people weak and that they should train without them. When Mercury discovered his, Marcus immediately stole it with his own Semblance, stating it would just become a crutch for Mercury. Instead, he forced Mercury to endure harsh training to become as strong and skilled as possible without one.
* PosthumousCharacter: In the show's timeline, he's already dead. He is only shown during a flashback of how Cinder recruits Mercury, and he's just been killed at that point.
* ProfessionalKiller: He was an assassin by trade and had a reputation as having the skill required by Cinder for the mission she had in mind. When she arrives as Marcus's house, it's to find that Marcus has just been killed by his son, whom he trained to be an assassin like him.

* PhysicalGod: They are extremely powerful beings with physical forms and the power to destroy and create living beings. When they created Remnant and humanity, they lived among them as physically accessible beings to anyone who wished to visit. Although the scale of their powers dwarf even the original form of magic-wielding humanity, they experience the same emotions as humans and suffer the same sort of character flaws. It's Salem realising that they're as fallible as humans that lead her to turn humanity against them, but it's their vast power that enabled them to destroy and abandon humanity in retaliation. [[spoiler:Volume 9 reveals that they were created by the Ever After as minor gods, but they grew more powerful over time; they eventually outgrew their original purpose and were released to explore other realms away from their native home.]]